Male and female Moose Source: www.frierworks.com/mammals/thumbs/thumbs.html
The moose also known in Latin as Alces alces is considered the largest animal in the deer family measuring up to approximately seven feet. They can weigh between 270-720kg depending on the gender of the moose. A male moose (bull) grows antlers during the summer and looses them in the winter whereas a female moose (cow) doesn’t grow any antlers. The following report will inform you on the habitat and five different adaptations that include structural, physiological and behavioural adaptations of a moose.
Level
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Artiodactyla
Family
Cervidae
Genus
Alces
Species
Alces Alces
DIAGRAM
Labelled diagram of modern day moose
Habitat
The moose is commonly known to live all around the world in different environments that influence their way of life, because of these environmental differences there are different subspecies of a moose.
The moose tends to live in forests areas that are sheltered from the snow in the winter.
The areas in which a moose is most commonly found are:
Europe (European Moose)
Eastern Canada and north eastern United States (Eastern Moose)
Eastern Siberia, Mongolia and Manchuria (Siberian Moose)
Western Canada, northern Wisconsin, northern Minnesota (Western Moose)
Description of Habitat
Source: pages.cs.wisc.edu/~mikem/yellowstone/
The moose are known as twig eaters because of their diet, meaning they must live in areas with a high amount of shrubs, hard and soft woods. The summer provides a large amount of foliage which they can feed on, which is usually located near wet marshlands. Once the winter comes they have a relatively easy time walking through the snow than the deer because of their long legs. This also has a negative impact as once the snow is very deep there is little foliage for the moose to feed on meaning they must find other feeding grounds.
All the moose really needs is a good balance of bush and foliage and some place to find good sodium content in the winter when the access to foliage is limited.
A moose usually shares its habitat with other animals that may pose a threat to their survival such as Siberian Tigers, Brown Bears, packs of Wolves, Cougars and sometimes Killer Whales can be a threat as a moose is known to swim between islands on North Americas Northwest Coast. The moose also lives in a similar of habitat as the coyotes in Northern America.
STRUCTURAL ADAPTATIONS
Structural adaptation 1 - Long Legs
A moose's long legs are very important to their survival as they need to be able to plough through thick snow to escape from predators or to find their food amongst all the snow or within wet marshlands.With a moose averaging the size of six feet from their shoulders to theri feet their legs give them a significant advantage over other herbivores in the area.With the moose surrounded by bush land or areas with a high amount of shrubs and trees their need for long legs increases as the years pass. The need for long legs is valuable because a large amount of smaller herbivores populate the area and eat the smaller shrubs and trees which leaves the moose with no other option but to try and reach taller branches, bushes etc.
Structural adaptation 2 - Fur Changes
A moose has fur that is narrow at the root and thick at the tip and the moose's fur gets thicker when it is exposed to cold weather or water. Both of these features allows the moose to stay warm during the colder months of the year.As the moose mainly lives in areas that experience very cold winters the adaptation of the fur could have arisen due to the fact that the moose with the fur that could not survive during the winter died out. This means that the fur that prevented the death from cold survived, allowing future generations of mooses' to be able to withstand the cold winter months.
BEHAVIOURAL ADAPTATIONS
Behavioural adaptation 1 - Charging and trampling enemy
By charging and trampling the enemy it gives the moose an upper hand in defending itself or protecting the rest of the herd. The moose kicks and tramples the enemy as a survival instinct. Once they feel as though they are in risk of danger they begin to charge at their enemy to make them afraid.The need to threaten the enemy in such a way probably developed over the years as the moose needed to find a way to protect themselves through the bushland. The male moose (bull) has an advantage over the females in the area of intimidating the enemy as they have large antlers whereas a female moose (cow) doesn’t.
Behavioural adaptation 2 - Bellowing to attract mates
During the months of September and October is when the moose is known to seek out their mate. To attract a mate the moose needs to call out and hope that the other gender likes their call. Each gender has their own specific calling sound; a male has a deep grunting sound that is known to be heard from at least half a kilometre away and a female makes wail like noises. This enable them to mate and continue the growth and reproduction of the moose. The moose are known to live apart from each other or individualy and this meant that they wouldn't be able to find a mate without actually being in close proximity, this then meant thay they would have to develop a mating call to be able to reproduce.
PHYSIOLOGICAL ADAPTATION - Lowering of body temperature
During winter the moose is able to lower its body temperature to reduce the amount of food that is required for them to survive. This means that if the moose is unable to find food during the winter it will be able to lower its body temperature so its desire and need for food will decrease. This means it will help the moose to survive longer and decrease the need of food.
This adaptation would have risen due to the fact that they wouldn't be able to find enough food to survive in the winter and this would mean that they would need to do something to prevent them from dying.
Future Animal: Alces virtus
The moose also known in Latin as Alces alces is considered the largest animal in the deer family measuring up to approximately seven feet. They can weigh between 270-720kg depending on the gender of the moose. A male moose (bull) grows antlers during the summer and looses them in the winter whereas a female moose (cow) doesn’t grow any antlers. The following report will inform you on the habitat and five different adaptations that include structural, physiological and behavioural adaptations of a moose.
Habitat
The moose is commonly known to live all around the world in different environments that influence their way of life, because of these environmental differences there are different subspecies of a moose.
The moose tends to live in forests areas that are sheltered from the snow in the winter.
The areas in which a moose is most commonly found are:
Description of Habitat
All the moose really needs is a good balance of bush and foliage and some place to find good sodium content in the winter when the access to foliage is limited.
A moose usually shares its habitat with other animals that may pose a threat to their survival such as Siberian Tigers, Brown Bears, packs of Wolves, Cougars and sometimes Killer Whales can be a threat as a moose is known to swim between islands on North Americas Northwest Coast. The moose also lives in a similar of habitat as the coyotes in Northern America.
STRUCTURAL ADAPTATIONS
Structural adaptation 1 - Long Legs
A moose's long legs are very important to their survival as they need to be able to plough through thick snow to escape from predators or to find their food amongst all the snow or within wet marshlands.With a moose averaging the size of six feet from their shoulders to theri feet their legs give them a significant advantage over other herbivores in the area.With the moose surrounded by bush land or areas with a high amount of shrubs and trees their need for long legs increases as the years pass. The need for long legs is valuable because a large amount of smaller herbivores populate the area and eat the smaller shrubs and trees which leaves the moose with no other option but to try and reach taller branches, bushes etc.
Structural adaptation 2 - Fur Changes
A moose has fur that is narrow at the root and thick at the tip and the moose's fur gets thicker when it is exposed to cold weather or water. Both of these features allows the moose to stay warm during the colder months of the year.As the moose mainly lives in areas that experience very cold winters the adaptation of the fur could have arisen due to the fact that the moose with the fur that could not survive during the winter died out. This means that the fur that prevented the death from cold survived, allowing future generations of mooses' to be able to withstand the cold winter months.
BEHAVIOURAL ADAPTATIONS
Behavioural adaptation 1 - Charging and trampling enemy
By charging and trampling the enemy it gives the moose an upper hand in defending itself or protecting the rest of the herd. The moose kicks and tramples the enemy as a survival instinct. Once they feel as though they are in risk of danger they begin to charge at their enemy to make them afraid.The need to threaten the enemy in such a way probably developed over the years as the moose needed to find a way to protect themselves through the bushland. The male moose (bull) has an advantage over the females in the area of intimidating the enemy as they have large antlers whereas a female moose (cow) doesn’t.
Behavioural adaptation 2 - Bellowing to attract mates
During the months of September and October is when the moose is known to seek out their mate. To attract a mate the moose needs to call out and hope that the other gender likes their call. Each gender has their own specific calling sound; a male has a deep grunting sound that is known to be heard from at least half a kilometre away and a female makes wail like noises. This enable them to mate and continue the growth and reproduction of the moose. The moose are known to live apart from each other or individualy and this meant that they wouldn't be able to find a mate without actually being in close proximity, this then meant thay they would have to develop a mating call to be able to reproduce.
PHYSIOLOGICAL ADAPTATION - Lowering of body temperature
During winter the moose is able to lower its body temperature to reduce the amount of food that is required for them to survive. This means that if the moose is unable to find food during the winter it will be able to lower its body temperature so its desire and need for food will decrease. This means it will help the moose to survive longer and decrease the need of food.
This adaptation would have risen due to the fact that they wouldn't be able to find enough food to survive in the winter and this would mean that they would need to do something to prevent them from dying.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Nature Works. (2010). Moose. Retrieved 8th June 2010, from http://nhptv.net/natureworks/moose.htm
Cool Moose. (2010). Moose. Retrieved 8th June 2010, from http://users.rcn.com/jpebble/moose/index.html
Hot Potatoes. (2010). Adaptations for Obtaining Food, Protection, Locomotion. Retrieved 13th June 2010, from http://www.jmoc.ca/gr9web/Biodiversity/Behavioral%20and_or%20Structural%20Adaptations.html
Wikipedia.(2010). Moose. Retrieved 9th June 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose
National Geographic.(2010). Moose. Retrieved 16th June 2010, from http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/moose.html